Kerala seeks Centre`s nod for manufacturing zone

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has sought the Centre`s approval for the Kochi-Palakkad National Investment and Manufacturing Zone -- a Rs 53,825-crore industrial infrastructure project, conceived to impart a thrust to the industrialisation of the state.

A Detailed Project Report (DPR) of NIMZ, prepared by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, has been sent to the centre, seeking nod for the Master Plan study and Viability Gap Funding for the project.

"The Centre has now asked some more details from the state government in the prescribed format for giving clearance to the project. This has been prepared and is being submitted to the Centre," Minister for Industries and IT PK Kunhalikutty said on Monday.

A showpiece project of the Emerging Kerala Global Connect event to be held in Kochi next month, the NIMZ was to be executed in PPP mode and generate direct employment of five lakh over five years, and 25 lakh indirect jobs in 10 years, the Minister said in a statement.

The capital outlay for NIMZ had been pegged at Rs 53,825 crore, while the expected investment inflow was around Rs 1,00,000 crore over 10 years.

The project would comprise six industrial zones, two food and agro processing zones, three engineering and electronic zones, one chemical and petrochemical zone and facility for power generation. The total extent of land proposed for the NIMZ is 5,200 hectares.

KSIDC had already identified around 3,500 hectares in the four districts. The NIMZ area would be distributed on both sides of the NH-544 (old NH-47) with a bandwidth of 25 km on both sides and a length of 160 km.